My gown suited me as well as I could ever hope thought I could not but envy the young ladies who would attract the honest compliments of the night. My bodice did not plunge as dramatically as some, and no man-no man I would ever want to meet surely-could fit his hands around my waist. But the gown had the simple elegance for which Queen Sophia's dressmaker so renowned, and what I lacked in beauty, I would simply have to earn with charm.

Benevolence is not your typical princess and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to unknown assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia, who is intent on marrying her off to the first available “specimen of imbecilic manhood.” Starved and miserable, locked in the castle’s highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire . . . But Ben’s private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat facing the castle and indeed the entire country. Can Princess Ben save her kingdom from annihilation and herself from permanent enslavement?

Princess Ben is the third book by Catherine Gilbert Murdock and was released in 2008. She is not kidding when states this is 'not your typical fairy tale''. It has all the usual elements (princesses, cells in towers, magic, evil stepmothers, balls etc) which are both Deconstructed and Reconstructed by the end. Have fun spotting the references to classic tales.

Princess Ben has the following tropes:

Affably Evil: King Renaldo, the kind of Drachensbett, is impeccably polite. This is because he's not really evil.

The Chains of Commanding: The cause of Ben's misery in the first act is 'acting like a princess should' and in the second act its 'marrying for the country's benefit'.

Later she finds Florian has the same burden.

Death Seeker: Downplayed but still there when Ben discovers the secret room. She thinks she has nothing to lose even if there's nothing beyond the illusion but a steep drop. "What had I to lose? Woul would miss me should this end in tragedy?"

Kansas City Shuffle: Ben's plan to kill the dragon. She lures it to her and creates a double for it to eat. This double is made of snow and puts out the belly fire that keeps it alive. She tricked her mark into calling her bluff.

The Magic Comes Back: At one point in Montagne's history there were mages. For some reason they stopped reading the book for ages. All Ben needed to do was start reading it.

Marry for Love: The only reason Ben decides she would marry. "When very old and in my twenties".

The Mentor: Sophia who teaches Ben important skills and praises her when she steps up to the challenge.

Modest Royalty: Ben was much happier living above a barracks and wearing rough clothing than living in the princess suite and wearing silk gowns.

Not So Different: Several characters note that Ben resembles Sophia when she's serious.

Passing the Torch: Sophia sequesters herself with the crew building "Fredinand's Wall" at the pass Drachensbett planned to use to invade Montagne. Thus, intentionally or not, leaving the day-to-day running of the Chateau de Montagne to Ben.

Proper Lady: Ben describes her mother as a paragon of what a proper lady should be.

Ben's character development is to be more like this and less like a Spoiled Brat.

Prophecy Twist: A fortune was told of Florian that he would awaken a princess and win her hand. He thinks this is a Sleeping Beauty thing. He inadvertently 'awakened' Ben because his campaign to conquer her country, which indirectly lead to her working as a kitchen slave and healer in one of his camps, forced her to mature.

Oblivious Mockery: Prince Florian mocks Ben in the camp of his soldiers, unaware that that the princess herself is hiding in their midst.

He later inverts it by praising "Ben the shepherd" as resembling "Princess Benevolence" but more clever and more interesting.

She Cleans Up Nicely: Deconstructed. Getting ready for the winter ball is a painful affair for Ben with corsetswig fitting and all manner of Fashion is Pain tropes. She thinks she looks ridiculous. It even has the 'grand entrance on a staircase' but Ben is only happy to reach the bottom without tripping.

Her second ball the following autumn is played straight, and for drama.

Shout-Out: Murdock must have had a list of fairy tales she wanted to twist to her own prupose.

To rumplsktlin, Sophia's grandmother is said to have spun straw into gold and made a tapestery that Sophia brings to Montagne

Ben briefly considers scaling her cell with Rapunzel's hair before dismissing it as absurd.

Baron Edwig claims a pea under his mattress bruised him.

From Florian's point of of view, Ben's flight from the castle sounds like Sleeping Beauty: A witch casting a sleep spell on a princess before escaping; the princess can only be awakened by a kiss from a prince. In reality the 'sleeping princess' was a magic clone Ben created to hold others attention while she studied, and instead of leading to a happily ever after, Ben fears that her connection to double would fade and it will become the new princess, leaving her as a kitchen slave.

A farm boy thinks Ben's melted glass "gems" are magic beans.

The Frog Prince, but in this case the princess would rather keep him in a box and poke him with a stick than kiss him.

Saint George and the Dragon

Slap-Slap-Kiss: after spending most of their aquiantance hating each other, Florian confesses his love for Ben. A day later, she confesses the same.

So Proud of You: "...we must confess, Benevolence, that our esteem of you waxes with each passing day." Aspire as I might to project queenly dignity, I could not restrain a flush of pride.

Spoiled Brat: While she has an excuse at the very beginning (i.e. emotional turmoil over her parrent's deaths) she acts entitled and throws an occasional tantrum.

Silk Hiding Steel: Invoked but then defied. Ben knows about these kinds of women and wants to emulate them but has no idea how. Later she stumbles upon 'abject passivity' which frustrates Sophia into drinking. Later still, she fulfills the trope.

In fact, a major theme of the story is 'fighting one's enemies with courtesy' and wielding power over them from a weaker position.

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